The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in America

Edited by Paul Gutjahr

Oxford Handbooks

Informative overview and analysis of the Bible in America in specific historical moments such as the founding of the nation and the Civil War
Discusses Bible's relationship to specific institutions such as politics and the schools
Explores the Bible's role in cultural expressions
Considers the Bible's influence in a wide spectrum of artistic endeavors, and US politics and foreign policy

The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in America

Edited by Paul Gutjahr

Description

Early Americans have long been considered "A People of the Book" Because the nickname was coined primarily to invoke close associations between Americans and the Bible, it is easy to overlook the central fact that it was a book-not a geographic location, a monarch, or even a shared language-that has served as a cornerstone in countless investigations into the formation and fragmentation of early American culture. Few books can lay claim to such powers of civilization-altering influence. Among those which can are sacred books, and for Americans principal among such books stands the Bible.

This Handbook is designed to address a noticeable void in resources focused on analyzing the Bible in America in various historical moments and in relationship to specific institutions and cultural expressions. It takes seriously the fact that the Bible is both a physical object that has exercised considerable totemic power, as well as a text with a powerful intellectual design that has inspired everything from national religious and educational practices to a wide spectrum of artistic endeavors to our nation's politics and foreign policy.

This Handbook brings together a number of established scholars, as well as younger scholars on the rise, to provide a scholarly overview--rich with bibliographic resources--to those interested in the Bible's role in American cultural formation.

The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in America

Edited by Paul Gutjahr

Oxford Handbooks

Acknowledgments

Contributor Biographies

Introduction
Paul C. Gutjahr

Part I: Bible Production

1. Protestant English-Language Bible Publishing and Translation
Paul C. Gutjahr

2. American Children's Bibles
Russell W. Dalton

3. Native American Bible Translations
Linford D. Fisher

4. Bible Bindings and Formats
Seth Perry

Part II: Biblical Interpretation and Usage

5. Seventeenth-Century Biblical Interpretation
Robert E. Brown

6. Eighteenth-Century Biblical Interpretation
Jan Stievermann

7. Nineteenth-Century Biblical Interpretation
Mark Noll

8. Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Biblical Interpretation
Daniel J. Treier and Craig Hefner

9. The Bible in the Electronic Age
John B. Weaver

10. The Bible and Feminist Interpretation
Claudia Setzer

11. The Bible and American LGBT Interpretation
Teresa J. Hornsby

12. The Bible and African American Culture
Abraham Smith

13. The Bible and Creationism
Susan L. Trollinger and William Vance Trollinger, Jr.

14. The King James Only Movement
Jason A. Hentschel

15. The Bible and the Sermonic Tradition
Dawn Coleman

Part III: The Bible in American History and Culture

16. The Bible and American Education
Suzanne Rosenblith and Patrick Womac

17. The Bible in American Law
Daniel L. Dreisbach

18. The Bible in American Politics
Daniel A. Morris

19. The Bible and Slavery
Emerson Powery

20. The Bible and Sports
Jeffrey Scholes

21. The Bible and the Military
Ed Waggoner

22. The Bible and the Founding of the Nation
Eran Shalev

23. The Bible in the Civil War
Paul Harvey

24. The Bible and the Religious Right
Rebecca Barrett-Fox

25. The Bible and Environmentalism
Calvin B. DeWitt

Part IV: The Bible and the Arts

26. The Bible and Art
Kristin Schwain

27. English Cinema and tThe Bible and Cinema
William D. Romanowski

28. The Bible and Literature
Shira Wolosky

29. The Bible and Graphic Novels and Comic Books
Andrew T. Coates

30. The Bible and Music
Jason C. Bivins

31. Performing the Bible
James S. Bielo

Part V: The Bible and Religious Traditions

32. The Bible and Judaism
Jonathan D. Sarna

33. The Bible and Catholicism
Donald Senior

34. The Bible and Orthodox Christians
A. G. Roeber

35. The Bible and the Mainline Denominations
Elesha Coffman

36. The Bible and Evangelicalism
John G. Stackhouse, Jr.

37. The Bible and Fundamentalism
Randall J. Stephens

38. The Bible and Pentecostalism
Michael J. McClymond

39. The Bible and Mormonism
David Holland

40. The Bible and Seventh-Day Adventists
Nicholas Miller

41. The Bible and Jehovah's Witnesses
Michael J. Gilmour

42. The Bible and Christian Scientists
Michael W. Hamilton

The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in America

Edited by Paul Gutjahr

Oxford Handbooks

Author Information

Paul C. Gutjahr is Ruth Halls Professor of English at Indiana University. Among his numerous books and articles, he is the author of An American Bible: The History of the Good Book in the United States, 1777-1881 (1999), Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy (2011), and The Book of Mormon: A Biography (2012).

Contributors:

Rebecca Barrett-Fox
James S. Bielo
Jason C. Bivins
Robert E. Brown
Andrew T. Coates
Elesha Coffman
Dawn Coleman
Russell W. Dalton
Calvin B. DeWitt
Daniel L. Dreisbach
Linford D. Fisher
Michael J. Gilmour
Paul C. Gutjahr
Michael W. Hamilton
Paul Harvey
Craig Hefner
Jason A. Hentschel
David Holland
Teresa J. Hornsby
Michael J. McClymond
Nicholas Miller
Daniel A. Morris
Mark Noll
Seth Perry
Emerson Powery
A.G. Roeber
William D. Romanowski
Suzanne Rosenblith
Jonathan D. Sarna
Jeffrey Scholes
Kristin Schwain
Rev. Donald Senior, C.P.
Claudia Setzer
Eran Shalev
Abraham Smith
John G. Stackhouse, Jr.
Randall J. Stephens
Jan Stievermann
Daniel J. Treier
Susan L. Trollinger
William Vance Trollinger, Jr.
Ed Waggoner
John B. Weaver
Shira Wolosky
Patrick Womac

The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in America

Edited by Paul Gutjahr

Oxford Handbooks

Reviews and Awards

"there is much here to enlighten and entertain" -- Deborah W. Rooke, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

"This is a useful reference book that will inform. It shows the shifts and turns in relation to the Bible over centuries along with those who sought to defend or to reimage Bible teaching." -- Rev E T Kirkland, English Churchman

"Scholars of religion in America, the Bible, American culture, lived religion, or material religion should make room on their shelves for this book." -- Lydia Willsky-Ciollo, Reading Religion

"Taken together, these essays offer a useful, informed, multidisciplinary examination of the Bible in the contemporary US Recommended."--P.L. Redditt, CHOICE

"Overall the volume is well-executed and a monument to scholarship on the topic of the Bible in America this Oxford Handbook is more than welcomed on any Bible student's shelf."--Todd Scacewater, Exegetical Tools